The Reality Hub — the central space of the Reality Escape game — wasn't where deadly matches were fought, but it was where every player gathered: to rest, upgrade, trade… and wait.
A massive virtual city, almost perfectly mimicking a futuristic metropolis: a simulated sky above, crisscrossing neon-lit streets, flickering holographic shop signs, and players moving with anxious, restless energy — or, sometimes, pure despair.
Eiden stepped out from the transfer gate, his shoulders still trembling slightly from the lingering adrenaline of the last match.
"You made it," Lina called, sitting at a repair station, holding a broken armor plate. "I just sold off some healing kits. Enough to fund my next upgrade."
Eiden sat beside her in silence, observing the flow of people. A group of Escapers were arguing loudly over reward splits. A Hunter walked past — calm, indifferent — and everyone instinctively stepped away.
Here, Hunters and Escapers were no longer enemies — at least not outside of a match.
But tension… always remained.
"What's your plan now?" Lina asked seriously.
"I'm going to dig up info on the next map," Eiden replied. "I don't want to get thrown into another hellhole like the last one."
She nodded. "I heard the system's new update might include a new mode. Randomized maps… possibly limitless."
Eiden froze. "Limitless maps?"
"Yeah. Word is, they'll be generated from player memories. Every match could be a unique space, built from someone's past."
A chill ran down Eiden's spine.
Memories?
If the system could truly reach that deep into their minds, then this game…
was far more terrifying than he'd imagined.
---
> [News – System Update v3.5: New Experimental Mode Added – "Simulated Memories." Randomized maps generated from player subconscious.]
> [Note: Players may experience forgotten, altered, or fabricated memories.]
Eiden stared at the announcement.
Lina was quiet beside him. The atmosphere shifted — heavier now.
"Are you going to try that mode?" she asked quietly.
Eiden didn't answer right away.
A faint image surfaced in his mind — a blank white room, disembodied voices echoing, a scream stifled before it ever left his throat.
A memory?
Or a nightmare?
Reality Escape isn't just a game.
It's tearing into the minds of everyone who plays it.
Eiden sat in silence, eyes fixed on the phrase: "Simulated Memories – Experimental Mode." A new game gate hovered nearby — one that hadn't existed before. It glowed faintly with a misty purple hue, as if it were woven from fragments of memory itself.
He stood up.
"You're really going in?" Lina asked, her voice tinged with concern.
"It's just an experimental mode," Eiden tried to smile, but his mind was alert. "I need to know… how deep this system can dig."
She didn't argue. But before he walked away, Lina pulled out a spare energy chip — the kind used to reboot mental syncs after a data shock.
"Take this. There's a protective code I wrote inside. Might not do much, but… just in case."
Eiden paused for a second, then nodded and pocketed it. He stepped toward the gate, placing his hand on the screen.
> [Mode: Simulated Memories – Linking to subconscious layer...]
[Scanning neural data...]
[Generating map – 87%...]
The world twisted.
His body became weightless. The surroundings faded—
---
Static.
Eiden opened his eyes.
He stood in a long, dim hallway. Mold crept across cracked walls, the ceiling lights flickered weakly, and the air was thick, almost suffocating.
This wasn't a regular game map.
It was… his old school — the third-floor classroom corridor. The exact spot where Eiden had studied at age sixteen.
"This can't be real…"
His hands trembled.
A soft creak echoed from the end of the hallway. One of the classroom doors slowly opened, though no one was there.
Eiden clenched his fists. Instincts screamed danger.
The system didn't just access memories — it recreated the emotions tied to them.
And the feeling here…
Was fear.
---
> [Warning: An entity is approaching.]
[You are being watched.]
Eiden spun around.
A tall, blurred silhouette emerged from the far end of the hall.
No visible face. No name tag. No health bar. No footsteps — only a bone-deep chill flooding the air.
Not a Hunter.
Not a player.
Something else entirely.
Eiden panted, stepping back slowly. The entity in front of him didn't move fast, but each of its steps made the hallway shrink — space itself twisted, as if reality resisted its presence.
Cracks spread along the walls. Lights burst. The air grew thin.
> [Psychological Warning: Traumatic Memory Level 3 – System recommends immediate exit.]
No.
If he escaped now, he'd lose access — and with it, the chance to understand what this thing really was.
Eiden pulled out his illusionist knife — a decorative item from his inventory, no real damage stats. But at least it gave him something to hold.
The entity stopped, just a few meters away.
Its face began to take form.
No eyes. No nose. Only a wide, torn grin — like a smile violently ripped into the flesh. And then a whisper filled the corridor, echoing from all directions:
"You were not meant to remember this..."
"Go back to sleep."
At that moment, the energy chip Lina had given him began to glow inside his pocket. Eiden quickly pulled it out and pressed the activation switch.
A flash of white light burst outward, flooding the space.
The entity let out a shriek, blurring like a corrupted file being wiped. The hallway began to collapse — fragments of memory falling like shards of a broken dream.
> [Exiting simulation...]
[Reloading central hub...]
---
Eiden opened his eyes again. He was back in the waiting zone — heart pounding, his clothes drenched in sweat.
Lina ran to him. "Are you okay?!"
"That thing... it wasn't normal data." Eiden lifted his head, eyes burning with new clarity. "It's something the system is deliberately hiding. Something we're not supposed to remember."
He glanced toward the memory gate — now vanished without a trace.
"But I'll find it again."
His eyes no longer held just the will to survive. They held the need for truth.